The Obvious Old in the New World Order
After the Second World War, as the destructive dust of this global conflict subsided, the world fell into two camps. Countries were either Communist or Capitalist. An imposing iron wall of suspicion, tension, and enmity stood over them, dividing nations for the next half-century. The international community established respective institutions along the two sides of this barricade. Both the Warsaw Pact and NATO were created. This dichotomy, of Communism versus Capitalism, then defined the world order for decades to come.
Today, however, with the collapse of Communist Europe, the rise of Jihadism, and economic evolutions in Asia and more, this bifurcated set-up, of our globe divided along economic lines, is now outdated. With it, those established institutions, such as NATO, now stand exposed and ill-suited to this new world order. NATO is old, anachronistic, and, in its composition, unsuited for the international community today.
The fractions within human civilisation are no longer about Communism or Capitalism but about oppression or freedom, totalitarianism versus the rights of the individual. Countries such as Iran and Russia are poised against America and Europe. Regimes bent on control are locked against collectives dedicated to their citizens, and NATO, with its now eclectic band of member countries, is, as one journalist wrote, “a stale military holdover from the Cold War days”.
Last century, as we said, the Cold War dominated international politics. Alliances between countries were based on this. Turkey, which joined NATO in 1952, ascended to distance itself from Soviet pressure. Yet it is now glaringly out of place in any strategic military alliance with the West. Under the leadership of such an unsavory character as Erdoğan, Turkey outrightly supports groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL, terrorist organisations bent on barbarity and terrorism. The country even purchased Russia’s state-of-the-art missiles, a weapon built to shoot down NATO and American aircraft. Turkey has provided a home and financial base for many within Hamas leadership, which Erdogan has hailed as “a liberation group”. NATO, of which Turkey is a member-state, certainly seems stale.
Turkey stands as a noteworthy example of a nation challenging traditional alliances and expectations. While Turkey remains a member of NATO and has longstanding ties with Western nations, its foreign policy under Erdoğan has displayed a more assertive and independent stance. Turkey has engaged in partnerships with diverse, sinister actors, including Russia and China, and has pursued a more multidimensional foreign policy. This shift underscores the evolving nature of the global order. The current global geopolitical landscape has evolved and shifted from the simplistic dichotomy of the Cold War era, characterised by the Communist-Capitalist divide. In today’s geopolitics, the dynamics are more complex and diverse, with a range of ideologies, economic systems, and geopolitical alignments shaping international relations.
Change is inevitable and, nowadays, is occurring at a dizzying pace. The institutions that nations have founded and rely on to maintain peace, stability, cooperation, and defence need desperately to catch up, and the West’s lists of friends and allies need a looking over. Get with the times, NATO.